Halibut w/ Bushy 6-19

Headed to Santa Cruz bright and early this morning...  Wind was a little stronger than I expected and it was chilly out on the water.  I was on the water by 5:45am and my 2 sabiki rigs got tangled to all hell while the bait balls were all over below me      No live bait to say the least...

Had the pleasure of hooking up and fishing with SANTA CRUZ'S TOP KAYAK FISHING GUIDE Allen Bushnell "Bushy".  We caught about a dozen or so rockfish between us that were tossed back.  No lings  and we trolled/drifted all over the water.  Things started looking up when I hooked into a halibut... 20" tho... released and back to the bottom it went.  About 20 minutes later I hooked into a keeper halibut 25" and was able to land it.  Sloppy gaff shot, but it got the job done nevertheless. 

All said and done, it was great spending time on the water with the guy who "showed me the ropes" and helped me get hooked on the sport...

Congrats on the keeper Butt.  Thanks for the report and pictures Aaron.

Nice! Always great to fish with the Bush-man.

Yes it is!

Poor conditions.  that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I got pretty much skunked!  Aaron hooked up two, one of them was big enough.  In the BOX!

It was cold windy and chopy dark seas.  Water temp was 57-58 degrees.  I think this West Swell messed it up.

A power boat friend working the same area says his partner caught one short, and he kept some RF for dinner. guess we have to wait for things to settle down again.  Maybe tomorrow? LOL

Great to see you today Aaron!

Bushy

Great pics! looks like it was a great time by those smiles.

Nice! Thanks for the report. You know it's a good sighn when you see the Bushy on the water